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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Random thoughts on today's headlines !!

With my blog being dormant for nearly three weeks now, and with nothing really particular to write about, I figured out the best way to keep the writing habit alive is to comment on some of the day's headlines. Not only is this a good way to ensure that newspapers are read (I subscribe to four different ones - including two business dailies - and hardly read anything), but it also a good way to develop your writing skills, especially for first-time bloggers. So on a lazy Sunday morning, I finally got down to reading today's DNA and found some really interesting articles, some of which I thought of commenting on (after all, dont we all have an opinion on everything ?).

Mirch Masala in Australia: This, of course, was the front page headlines and talked about how Indians down under are arming themselves with chilli powder and pepper spray to fight off potential attackers (taking a cue from Ketan Mehta's movie in the 80s). I really think this is getting uglier and scarier by the day. A few days more of this senseless violence and we would have a full fledged diplomatic row between the two nations, spilling over to all fields. Already, some bars in Mumbai have stopped selling Fosters beer and more are expected to follow suit !!! And while the Australian cricket team's tour to India is some months away (October), if this continues, their team can expect more than a hostile reception here. The other thing, of course, is that an eye-for-an-eye policy rarely brings with it any positive results. So here's hoping that all this hostility on both sides quickly becomes a thing of the past, else we might have to see full-blown clashes on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney.

Black Leopard spotted after 67 years: This was the headline that really cheered me up. To think that a species of leopard, hitherto thought of to be nearly extinct, can be seen after so many years in the Sahyadris is quite heartening. Just goes to show that there are still tracts of forest here in India that can still harbour big animals like this without the outside world seeing them for so long. This, in itself, is fantastic.

Call of the Sahyadris: With the monsoons round the corner (and hope they finally arrive this week), the Sahyadris is the place to go. With a myriad of forts dotting the landscape, the onset of monsoons signals the start of the trekking season. Especially during the first few rains, when the ground is still not soft enough to be dangerous for trekking, there are plenty of opportunities for avid trekkers to enjoy nature at its best. This year, I hope to have a few weekend outings there, starting with a visit to Raigad coming weekend.

Want your area cleaned ? You can make it happen !!. This is another novel idea to improve our local governance. Once this act is passed, each polling booth will have an Area Sabha with the councillor as the chairman. All registered voters would be members of this Sabha. This Sabha would have the right to suggest priority of schemes and development programmes to be implemented in the area. The only question is, who is going to listen and take appropriate action ??. Also, as with most good intentions, the success of this idea lies in its execution. For example, in any case only half (or even less) of the registered voters actually vote. So how many of them will voluntarily turn up to be members of this Sabha and, more importantly, participate in it regularly. I do not mean to sound pessimistic, but I do sincerely wish this idea a lot of success, since it is neccessary to give more teeth to the lowest level of the government that most directly interacts with the general public.

So these were some random comments of today's headlines !! Hope to make this a regular feature henceforth...